A person wonders
Does the world need a machine or a software that invents images or human conversations that match reality, and even make some believe that they are real ? Maybe. Without this unbridled desire to imitate nature, the planes that transport people from one country to another and the rockets that transport people from one planet to another would not have been possible. It was the same desire that made the Samaritan fashion people’s gold into a bellowing golden calf, and that caused the sorcerers to make, with their magic, staffs and ropes that looked to people like they were running.
So what's wrong with that? Why do scientists find themselves sounding the alarm and warning against continuing in this direction? In the time of Moses, magicians represented the farthest reaches of the human mind. Pharaoh and his people trusted the magicians while they knew they were just magicians,and they did not trust Moses, the Prophet, even though they themselves were convinced that Moses’ staff was not man-made and that no human being could come with what Moses brought without having behind him a super natural power. When natural disasters befell them, they resorted to Moses, asking him to call on his Lord to remove the calamity. It is the very nature of the human soul. Children, even adults, love cartoons and interact with them knowing they're not real.
However, don't unrealistic images pose a danger to humans?
How many people suffer psychologically, and even financially, when they see themselves far from what they see on the pages of influencers, for example, who appear in the best possible way! How many lives have been destroyed because of this desire to imitate what is not real! Is that why scientists are afraid to advance further in the development of these amazing time-accelerating technologies to bring out to people something smarter than man and stronger than man? Is science that dangerous? Is science so bad? Alfred Nobel recommended the creation of the Nobel Prize to atone for his invention of dynamite, so what would the inventor of CHATGPT, for example, do to atone for his invention?
Will he join other scientists and inventors to solve the problem of single men in at least one Asian country, for example, who are led to buy human-size plastic dolls that look like women and are not real women? Couldn't the genius guys who developed the techniques of human cloning also develop drugs for incurable diseases? Can't scientists create new employment opportunities for the millions of people who will lose their jobs because of the new applications of artificial intelligence that are developing every minute and second? What will scientists do while they suspend these horrible research and applications? And what is the role of states and governments in all this? Will they stand by and watch what is being cooked in laboratories and scientific conferences? Is the world really in danger? Does the world belong to man? Doesn't the world have a God who protects it from human follies?
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Now I believe in Allah even though I do not see Him. But that’s not a problem for me – all the more so since He is kind enough to grant us access to His eternal Paradise for the little good we can do in our short life here below. And, on top of that, He sees all our flaws. He sees that we are impure. For example, we eat food and therefore we go to the toilet. And yet, He is willing to accept our prayers even when we are unable to perform Wudu (ablutions) for lack of water or for health reasons.
So I can understand that an impure being cannot see a Pure Being from an impure world. I can also understand that if Allah has made our bodies thus impure, it is for us to engage in a continuous process of physical and spiritual self-purification. Whatever I do, and at best, I could only become clean – like a clean house or office, but never perfectly pure. I will be pure only when I am about to enter Paradise, because there will be neither impurity nor toilet there. And it is only there and then that I will be able to see Allah, The Pure. I will see Him as I see the moon in this world. And it will be a very great pleasure and honour for me.
Besides, what would be the use of seeing my god if he were in bronze or ceramic that I could move like a laptop from one room to another or carry in my bag? What would happen if I prayed and cried out to that god to save me from a bad situation while he stubbornly just watched me cry and did nothing to save me? Wouldn't I be tempted to break or burn or throw him in the trash in a moment of anger or temporary madness? If the God in whom I have the chance and the honour to believe, and whom I do not see nonetheless, does not answer my prayers immediately, I could console myself by saying that He has reasons which I do not know, and that I should perhaps wait a bit to see more clearly, just the time for me to realize my own errors, my own faults. If I accept my mistakes and try to make up for them, that would be one more step in my process of self-purification which could only do me good sooner or later. In the verse above we read: “Allah loves those who repent, and He loves those who purify themselves.” (2:222)
And then, if you and I have the eyes to see God, what about the blind, what about those who can't even read their bills with the best glasses in the world?
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However, not all suffering is punishment. Scholars speak of two kinds of ibtila (test, trial): ibtila tarqiya and ibtila tanqiya.
Ibtila tarqiya (or Promotion Test) is for the devout
faithful who - at worst - commit minor sins or no sins at all. God tries these
people with affliction and adversity so that their iman and yaqeen will
rise higher and higher. Their patience and endurance (despite all hardships)
will earn them higher grades in Paradise than they would normally get for
merely performing acts of worship (like praying, fasting, etc.).
Ibtila tanqiya (or Cleansing Test) is for sinners among
believers. The calamities that befall these people are a means to cleanse them
of their sins if they stick to their iman and do good deeds to
atone for their ill deeds. Ibtila in this sense is kind of
educative punishment.
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"He who doeth wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against Allah any protecting friend or helper." (An-Nisaa : 123)
"Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have
earned. And He forgiveth much" (Ash-Shura : 30)
As you see, Allah forgives much, because the punishment is not meant to make you
suffer, but rather to lead you (back) onto the right path.
"See they not that they are tested once or twice in every year? Still
they turn not in repentance, neither pay they heed." (At-Tauba : 126)
Allah warns us and guides us at the same time:
"Allah biddeth you beware (only) of Himself. Unto Allah is the
journeying." (Al-i'Imran : 28)
"And let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or
painful punishment befall them." (An-Nur : 63)
"Allah would explain to you and guide you by the examples of those who
were before you, and would turn to you in mercy. Allah is Knower, Wise. And
Allah would turn to you in mercy; but those who follow vain desires would have
you go tremendously astray. Allah would make the burden light for you, for man
was created weak." (An-Nisaa : 26-28)
"If ye avoid the great (things) which ye are forbidden, We will remit
from you your evil deeds and make you enter at a noble gate."
(An-Nisaa : 31)
"And let those who cannot find a match keep chaste till Allah give them
independence by His grace." (An-Nur : 33)
"But lo! with hardship goeth ease, Lo! with hardship goeth ease"
(Al-Sharh : 5-6)
Strangely enough, there's a kind of ibtila which could be for
both the devout and sinners alike. This ibtila is kind of a
preparation for a mission that you'll have to accomplish later in your life.
This is the longest and hardest ibtila. This could be, though, a
godsend for sinners if they managed to endure their hardships until the
"mission" was accomplished, for the prize is no less than the company
of the Elite in Paradise.
"Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom
Allah hath shown favor, of the Prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the
righteous. The best of company are they! Such is the bounty of Allah, and Allah
sufficeth as knower." (An-Nisaa : 69-70)
Of course, that's not easy. All kinds of hardship are hard to bear - be you a
believer or disbeliever. But what's the alternative? Sin?
"Or do those who do ill deeds imagine that they can outstrip Us: Evil
(for them) is that which they decide." (Al-Ankabut : 4)
"And thy Lord is not unaware of what ye (mortals) do."
(An-Naml : 93)
"O mankind! Your rebellion is only against yourselves. (Ye have)
enjoyment of the life of the world; then unto Us is your return and We shall
proclaim unto you what ye used to do. The similitude of the life of
the world is only as water which We send down from the sky, then the earth's
growth of that which men and cattle eat mingleth with it till, when the earth
hath taken on her ornaments and is embellished, and her people deem that they
are masters of her, Our commandment cometh by night or by day and we make it as
reaped corn as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We expound the
revelations for people who reflect. And Allah summoneth to the abode of peace,
and leadeth whom He will to a straight path." (Yunus : 23-25)
